Most reacted to this consonantal confusion with an “oops” or a laugh, a response that signals the now common, heart-warming welcome of the evident humanity of the pontiff. That humanity is born of his personal humility and expressed in his constant concern for poor (as in his Message for Lent this year). It naturally appeals to the public. It plays to the crowds. But it’s not a public relations strategy. The words of Pope Francis – even, or especially, the mistaken ones! – create a very realistic encounter.

The modern media eat this up and serve this atypical public image to the world. But the pope, himself, prefers to dismiss the hype and return the focus to its rightful place.

Just this week, on the day before Lent began, he granted yet another newspaper interview – an informal but not unimportant form of papal communication that has contributed to the new media perception of the pope and the Church. Published in Corriere della Sera, it contains no great surprises; in fact, the very straightforward Q&A seems to lack the charm or depth of previous journalistic dialogues.

But there the pope makes clear his own perspective on Francescomania. In his response to the question about his public image, he said: “I like to be among the people, together with those who suffer, to go into the parishes. I don’t like the ideological interpretations, a certain mythology of Pope Francis. When it is said, for example, that he leaves the Vatican at night to go and give food to the homeless on Via Ottaviano. It never occurred to me (to do so). Sigmund Freud said, if I’m not mistaken, that in every ideology there is an aggression. To depict the Pope as a sort of superman, a type of star, seems offensive to me. The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps tranquilly and has friends, like everyone else. A normal person.”

A normal person? Yes and no!

Yes, the normalcy of his likes and dislikes, of his gestures and words, of his everyday actions reveals a bishop at one with the flock he shepherds. But, no, this is not normally how the world perceives the Vicar of Christ and leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Then again, perhaps now it can … and should.

But, beyond the “coverpope” image generated by newspapers and magazines the world over, we would do well to view Pope Francis in light of Marshall McLuhan’s famous dictum: “the medium is the message.”

With Pope Francis, the medium is a living person, one who, according to Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, has a natural capacity to turn communications into an event. But the message he mediates and radiates, is not, ultimately, about him: “the real point of reference is not about Pope Francis but the love of God for human beings, the merciful, tender love of God for human beings.”

That’s the Good News of the Gospel that comes through in the pope’s words, even when they are mispronounced! It’s what Francescomania is really all about.

Featured image snipped from nypost.com

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About Fr. Thomas Dailey

In 2013-2014 the REV. THOMAS DAILEY, O.S.F.S. served as the inaugural John Cardinal Foley Chair of Homiletics & Social Communications at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. A priest in the congregation of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (the patron saint of Catholic journalists and writers), Fr. Dailey is the senior-ranking faculty member at DeSales University in Center Valley (PA), where he is a professor of Theology. There he also holds the Blessed Louis Brisson Chair of Salesian Spirituality and directs the work of the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture.

One Response to “Francescomania!”

“the real point of reference is not about Pope Francis but the love of God for human beings, the merciful, tender love of God for human beings.”

How do we know? Calvary tells us so.

How important is the revelation of Calvary? It is so important that the most Holy Trinity decided to remind us of it in perpetuity. Their perpetual reminder of Calvary would be as extraordinary as Calvary itself. Therefore, the most Holy Trinity did the impossible – they created a time machine. They uprooted Calvary from its foundation in time and space, made it portable and created a vehicle to carry it to us in the present. The vehicle that carries Calvary to us is the Mass. Whenever a priest raises the body and blood of Christ at Mass, recognize that you yourself are present at Calvary and are in the real presence of our Savior, Jesus Christ. At this moment, recall that, through the wounds we opened in the body of Christ, buckets of blood spilled, life itself spilled, but not a drop – not a drop – of His love for us. His love for us is real, intransigent and unconditional. Moreover, never forget that the revelation of Calvary was purchased at an exorbitant price as a gift to us. If we did not matter to the most Holy Trinity, they would not have paid the price. That they did, tells us where we stand with God.

The miracle of the Resurrection is not that the Son of Man conquered death. Indeed, His Resurrection was an awesome display of omnipotence. However, this was the lesser miracle of the Resurrection. The greater miracle of the Resurrection was that when the Son of Man rose from the dead, His most sacred heart was still filled to the brim with love for us.

May God bless you!

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